Franciszek Gajowniczek (November 15, 1901 – March 13, 1995) was a Polish army sergeant whose life was saved by priest St. Maximilian Kolbe by volunteering to die in his place. Gajowniczek had been sent to Auschwitz concentration camp from Gestapo prison in Tarnów. He was captured while crossing the border with Slovakia after the defeat of the Modlin Fortress during the 1939 German invasion of Poland. Gajowniczek and Kolbe met as inmates of Auschwitz in May 1941.